Venezuelan houses destroyed in US operation that captured Maduro; no official figures on deaths
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People carrying belongings at a damaged building on Jan 4 after US strikes in Venezuela, during which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was captured.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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CARACAS – Some homes in the town of Catia La Mar near Venezuela’s capital Caracas were damaged or destroyed in the US military operation that captured President Nicolas Maduro
Mr Jonatan Mallora, a 50-year-old motorcycle taxi driver, and his neighbour Angel Alvarez, a young street vendor, said they woke on Jan 3 to explosions in their community
The Venezuelan authorities have said the US hit areas in La Guaira, Caracas, and the neighbouring states of Miranda and Aragua, and that soldiers, civilians and much of Mr Maduro’s security team were killed, though they have not offered specific figures on dead and injured.
The small Romulo Gallegos neighbourhood, where Mr Mallora and Mr Alvarez live, was damaged in the US attack on a nearby naval academy.
“It’s sheer luck they didn’t kill my kids,” Mr Mallora said amid the rubble of his apartment, where the roof was destroyed. He said he fled and escaped unharmed along with his 24-year-old daughter and 22-year-old son.
People looking for belongings in the rubble of a building on Jan 4 after US strikes in Venezuela, during which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was captured.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Mr Alvarez surveyed shrapnel damage to his apartment wall and water tank – vital in a country where water supply is unreliable. He said he was relieved to have a spare tank and his home remained standing, unlike Mr Mallora’s.
“We really didn’t know what to do,” Mr Alvarez said, recalling how he ran back and forth after waking to the deafening noise.
“I would never wish on anyone” the experience of an attack, he added. “We’re alive by a miracle.” REUTERS
